Unilever, Fidelity, others cause market’s positive start to new week

Nigeria’s equities market rose by 0.60 percent or N203 billion in Monday, pushing the market’s return year-to-date (YTD) to +22.81percent.

Expectedly, investors are buying stocks ahead of the upcoming second quarter (Q2) earnings season.

The market’s positive start to the new week was driven by investors’ interest in shares like Unilever, Fidelity Bank, Sterling Bank and John Holt that occupied the top advancers league.

Fidelity Bank moved up from N6.70 to N7.37, after adding 67kobo or 10 percent. Unilever increased from N14.50 to N15.95, up by N1.45 or 10 percent.

Sterling Bank increased from N3.11 to N3.42, up by 31kobo or 9.97 percent, while John Holt increased from N1.81 to N1.99, adding 18kobo or 9.94 percent.

At the close of trading, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation rose from the preceding day’s 62,569.73 points and N34.070 trillion respectively to 62,943.35 points and N34.273trillion.

Sterling Bank, Transcorp, Unity Bank, Access Corporation and Universal Insurance were actively traded stocks. In 8,979 deals, investors exchanged 710,018,266 shares valued at N13.829 billion.

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with over 18 years journalism experience writing on banking, finance and capital markets. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA).